


Here We Go Again

by Cacteye



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Community Garden AU, Doomsday War on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Minecraft IRL, The Disc War on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), based on that one post about tommy building a garden, tommy decides to break the cycle of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:22:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29753319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cacteye/pseuds/Cacteye
Summary: L'Manberg is a crater in the ground. It's not really how Tommy wanted this to go, but he can't say he didn't expect anything else. However, reacting violently has consistently screwed him over, multiple times even. So when he's tired of fighting, what's the best Tommy can do?He decides a public park will do. The thing with flowers and trees in it. He thinks people touch grass there for fun. And he guesses Tubbo can help too.Yeah, that'll show everyone.----------------Loosely based on (tumblr) deyageka's Community Garden AU. I changed some things, but the concept of a community garden was inspired by their AU and it's also just a really cool AU in general. They're also known as gekafaye on Instagram, go give them some love!
Relationships: Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, all platonic here - Relationship, don't ship minors or it's on sight
Comments: 5
Kudos: 173





	Here We Go Again

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, yeah so maybe we have a healing arc on the dsmp? Also flowers are cool, no matter what twitter dot com user Tommyinnit says. You're the flower boy now, sucker.

It’s calm.

Maybe it’s due to the numbness that follows seconds after battle, the ringing in his ears dialling down to a low hum. The cuts and bruises that cover him are only a dull ache for now, something he’ll scream about later when they turn into hellfire across his skin.

Right now though, he’s weightless. Tommy stands at the edge of what used to be L’Manberg, Manberg, and New L’Manberg. The nation that was never meant to be. 

He should feel enraged and continue yelling at the gods who rain destruction from the obsidian grid above. Even being scared would be a valid reaction, though he’s unsure if it would be useful.

However, there’s nothing to feel about. In all honesty, a part of Tommy had always expected it to end this way. A country born from war and violence couldn’t stand on its own after the fact, with its people damaged and fraying.

_What am I still doing here?_

Tommy shudders. No, he can’t think about that now. There has to be something to salvage and hold on to.

_The discs?_ He hesitates. While they are precious to him, an anchor to both the early days and his first family, he also remembers what they turned him into. His own words to Tubbo at the community house.

Still, he keeps that option open. There’s a churning in his stomach every time he thinks about giving them up.

Suddenly, the crunch of gravel behind him snaps him out of his thoughts. He turns and finds the other teen limping towards him, eyes staring past him towards the increasing crater.

Tubbo discarded the suit a while ago before ‘Doomsday’, so that could explain why his presence seems smaller. From the curl of his horns to his battered sneakers, he's covered in dirt and grime. He looks exceptionally tired, most likely experiencing the adrenaline crash. Tommy imagines he's in the same condition.

Tommy looks back to watch the TNT go off as Tubbo shuffles to his side. They’re both silent as they take in distant explosions from the edge. 

After a long moment, it starts to drizzle. Tubbo lets out a half-hearted chuckle. “Just our luck.”

Tommy closes his eyes and just breathes out. “Yeah.”

There’s another bout of quiet. The rain starts to come down a little harder. Tommy hopes it’ll drown out the sounds of everything else soon.

“I guess it’s over,” Tubbo sighs out, “L’Manberg is finished.”

Tommy blinks his eyes open and looks up. The docks sit at the horizon. “I don’t think I’ve processed it yet.”

“Me neither. What do we do now?”

“Good question.” He shrugs and inclines his head to Tubbo. “I was thinking about the discs.”

His best friend quirks an eyebrow at the strange inflection at the end of his sentence. “I’m sensing a ‘but’ here.”

The younger snorts and grimaces. “I’m just fucking tired of going in circles. It feels like this—“

Tommy gestures with one hand to the pit. It’s hit bedrock now. 

“—is never going to end. Yeah, I do care about those discs, but goddammit Tubbo, I’m so tired. We’ve fought in three wars and got pushed around by every force of nature on this stupid fucking server and we still get here every time.”

The rain has turned into a storm, lightning striking against the dark sky. It’s hard to tell what’s TNT and what’s thunder.

Tubbo just stares at him and Tommy stares back. To anyone else, nothing shows on their faces. However, with small movements and tilts, they have a conversation. Slowly, there’s a tentative plan forming between them. 

“What if we leave then?” Tubbo proposes carefully. “Take a boat far away like Techno did and stop being involved?”

As much as Tommy would love to do just that, something nags at his mind. The voices chatter around quietly, offering no help once again, but some of the more clear ones tells him to really think about it. Really think about the ramifications and about patterns in history.

He just shakes his head after a few seconds. “We can’t just run away, it’ll catch up to us anyways.”

Tubbo’s ears flatten and he huffs. “How do you know?”

“Gut feeling. ‘S not like Techno’s retirement went well anyways, did it?” Tommy replies in a flat tone and he ignores Tubbo’s flinch. He eventually sighs it off though.

“I can’t really argue with you on that one. But we can’t stay here either.” Tubbo continues in a more whispered tone, “It’ll finally kill us if we stay.”

The younger teen frowns and curls his fingers a couple times to get blood flowing back. “We’re trapped in a fucking corner, aren’t we.”

“Yup,” Tubbo chirps, popping the ‘p’ in the end. “Like always.”

“Like always,” he repeats in monotone. Tommy blinks away a dryness in his eyes. 

They stop talking as the destruction continues, even walking around so they can sit against some debris to observe. If they were an earlier version of themselves, they would be squirming at the lack of conversation, waiting to jump in sooner rather than later.

Tommy has been through exile where he was the only one in a couple hundred block radius for weeks. Tubbo learned to watch his words and be silent under Schlatt and Wilbur. This is more of a welcome then a discomfort at this point.

The sounds of screaming and gunpowder going off seems to have slowed, following the rain. Both of the boys can see people shouting at each other from across the hole, and the Antarctic uniforms are bright standing above on the grid. They still don’t move or speak.

And then Tommy sees it in the corner of his eye, the L’Manberg tree burning bright. If he’s seeing things correctly, the bright pink hair means Niki did it. He lightly bumps Tubbo with his shoulder and gets him to follow his gaze. The only reaction shown is the flicker of surprise across his friend’s face.

“Huh. What do you know,” is all he says and Tommy can only stiffly nod. 

He doesn’t know why, but watching the flames in the distance lick and eat the tree alive sets something off inside of him. It’s definitely not the spark he had in mind, but out of all the ideas whizzing by in his head, this one seems almost viable.

_Apparently all it took was a stupid tree._

“What if we rebuild?” he blurts out and Tubbo shoots him a confused and angered look.

“Tommy, what the fuck—“

“Not the country, we’d be using some of the area here.”

He’s still staring as the tree becomes more ash then anything. The new plan becomes clearer as the voices offer supporting ideas.

Tubbo still stares at him and then clears his throat. “Elaborate?” 

Tommy can feel the corners of his mouth lift a bit. “A garden. Like a community one, with our own tree-house and shed and shit.”

“I—what? Do you mean a park?” 

He turns around and wildly gestures. “Sure, call it fucking whatever! As long as it’s not a government or pissing anybody off, then we’re home-free.”

“How would that even work? There’s no way we wouldn’t get griefed or even attacked, some people definitely hate us!” Tubbo wraps his arms around himself. “We would be barely protected.”

Tommy pauses before snapping his fingers, a memory surfacing. “Public image.”

That gets him a glare. “Tommy you really gotta explain your vision more, I have no idea where you’re going with this.”

His eyes darken before he starts again. “Look, as much I absolutely fucking despise admitting this, if it weren’t for our pity party, our underdog image, I don’t think we would’ve won in the first war.”

“That can’t be true,” Tubbo tries to reassure him, “you gave up your discs.”

“Yeah and now we’re stuck in this mess. No, I mean what other people thought of us. At the beginning of all of this, L’Manberg was likeable, it represented whatever Wilbur had in mind for it.”

“Liberty and freedom under an unfair rule?” Tubbo interrupts.

Tommy waves it off. “Sure that, but remember, we were selling drugs. Let’s be real, the image of L’Manberg was different then our intentions.”

Understanding dawns on his best friend’s face. “You do want us to get attacked.”

He nods. “Just at the beginning. If there’s anything Wilbur taught me that stuck in this brain of mine, it’s the power of words, Big Man.”

Tommy pauses and adds, “I guess people are gonna be pissed at us anyways, so might as well let them attack early on. Then we show them that they’re really the assholes, beating up a bunch of defenceless teens. I mean think about it, we’re just gonna be growing carrots and they’ll show up ready for a fourth war. They’ll look like buffoons!”

Unexpectedly, Tubbo lets out boisterous laughter that soon has Tommy following after a couple chuckles. As the rain starts to trickle back down to a drizzle and people around them mourn, their laughter seems to echo. Most look at them with sad confusion, others with misplaced pity, thinking they’ve gone mad. Two in particular fill with misunderstood hatred.

When that’s all said and done, they wheeze their way back down, lying down on the wet grass. Two boys laughing in the rain.

Tubbo throws an arm to cover his eyes, a big smile on his face. “You’re fucking insane Tommy, oh my god.”

“I know Big T, but imagine the look on all of their dumb fucking faces when they realize we’re just planting flowers and shit.” Tommy lets out a little wheeze, thinking of Techno’s face in particular being contorted into shock.

“God, what about when they discover they have their own plot to plant stuff!” Tubbo giggles, tinged with insanity. “We’re gonna kill them with fucking kindness!”

“Absolutely, we’re gonna fuck ‘em up Tubbo!”

Their words trail back into giggles and snorts. Their breath calms down and Tommy shakily stands. He holds up a hand to pull up Tubbo and his friend accepts it.

During this, many members of the SMP already left, even having passed them as they either stared or cackled into empty air. The only ones left are Techno, atop the grid probably waiting to threaten them, and Dream, who Tommy couldn’t give less of a shit about at the moment.

So when they see a figure covered in ice blue fly down with a trident and land in front of them, the boys don’t even blink. Through the boar skull, Techno’s eyes narrow. 

Tommy doesn’t waste a second. “Technoblade, you absolute bitch, you’ve done it again. You’re really someone who shouldn’t be fucked with, good fucking job.”

The hysteria may have coated his voice because Techno’s stance loosens a bit and he straightens up a bit taller.

“You wanted a weapon Tommy, I showed you a weapon,” Techno rumbles, twirling his axe in one hand. His next words are careful, prodding to see how he should approach. “How do you feel, Theseus?”

Tommy hates his real name, especially when it comes out of Techno’s mouth, but he brushes it off this time with an easy shrug. 

“Blade, let me tell you, I have learned my lesson completely, actually me and Tubbo both have,” Tommy replies, slinging an arm around his friend’s shoulder. Tubbo’s own arms have relaxed, more loosely crossed.

That must annoy Techno because Tommy finds the blade of the axe pointed right under his chin. Even Tubbo can’t suppress the noise of surprise at that. 

“You two are planning something, I can tell,” Techno drawls out, hand steady. “If it’s a government, even the memory of our previous partnership won’t stop me from spilling your blood across the ashes of L’Manberg.”

Tommy snorts and rolls his eyes. “You’re so over dramatic, Technoblade.”

He makes sure to enunciate every consonant in the older’s name, with full knowledge it will anger him more. By the strained exhale and tightened grip, he did just that.

“What’s your play here? You would’ve called me more names by now.”

The teen puts his free hand on his hip and stares directly into the dark eye holes of the mask. “I told you Blade, we’ve learned our lesson. Turned a new leaf and much more shit like that.”

Techno scoffs. “Why do I doubt that?”

“No, he means it,” Tubbo starts, rubbing his hands together deviously, “we’re gonna blow everyone away.”

An inquisitive noise comes out of the man and he slowly drops the axe back to his side. “Like blow everyone away, as in the violence way?”

Tommy and Tubbo have always been on the somewhat same wavelength, their voices overlapping messily.

“With plants!”

They watch as Techno, for the first time in Tommy's life, stutters a bit and is stunned into silence. 

Finally, he croaks out an, “Eh?”

“We’re gonna build a community park, bitch-Blade, and it’s gonna look like the garden of fucking gods!” Tommy continues loudly. Tubbo slips out from under him so he can hype him up from behind.

Tommy raises his arms to the skies. “It’s gonna be huge and be covered with so many goddamn flowers, it’s gonna make your eyes bleed from the sheer fucking amount of rainbow!”

“So much colour!”

“And, and,” Tommy pauses for his own dramatic effect, “there’s gonna be lots of trees and open spaces to create free oxygen, so much that your lungs will absolutely combust!”

Tubbo whoops. “No more smoke and asbestos!”

“We’ll create a campground, a small lake, and everyone can have their own plot to plant shit!”

“Variety of fish—wait Tommy, I think the campgrounds should be paid,” Tubbo contemplates, raising an eyebrow at the thought.

Tommy gives it a second thought and nods. “Yeah, you’re right, we still need to make some profit. Okay, setting up a tent and camping is a private matter, but everything else will be open to the server!”

“For free!”

The teens turn to Techno, showing off their bright smiles. Techno stands, stock-still, and then a buffering chortle tumbles out of him.

“That is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard from you, you two have lost it.” Techno audibly exhales. “It’ll never work, where are you even building it?”

Tommy points at the deep crater. Techno tilts his head as a silent question. 

“To be eco-friendly you know,” Tommy responds, “climate change and shit. Can’t take up too much land.”

Tubbo nods seriously. “This crater has already decimated the ecosystem of the local wildlife. With the park, we can hope it will return.”

“I think building the city already did that beforehand and even then it’s going to be a slow process,” Techno starts to contribute, but he stops himself. “Wait, so you two are legitimately serious about this?”

The boys look at each other and then at Techno. Tommy speaks first with, “We’re going to build this stupid park, no matter what anyone says.”

“Even if Dream says no?” Techno asks, all hostility gone from his posture. The man seems genuinely curious and this fuels Tommy’s optimism. 

“When have we ever listened to that green bastard? He can fuck around and find out.” Tommy unfurls an open palm behind him and Tubbo high fives it.

“Tommy,” and Techno really sounds like an exasperated brother right now, “when have you actually won against Dream?”

“I’ve factually never lost against that bitch ever, fact-check me Tubbo,” Tommy confidently replies as Tubbo steps up to be beside him.

“Big T has never lost against Dream, except during the arrow duel, November 16th, maybe some petty things here and there—“

“Shut the fuck up Tubbo, you literally proved his point.”

Tubbo radiates a smug aura as he adopts a sickeningly sweet tone and he apologizes with, “I’m terribly sorry Tommy.”

“Bitch boy,” Tommy barks out.

“Bastard,” Tubbo snaps back.

It’s almost like old times.

Techno gives a long, drawn-out sigh and his trident phases into his hand. 

“As long as it’s not a government. For the record, I think you two are still idiots and that your park will still fail triumphantly.” Techno glances back to the hole and rolls his head back to look at them. “It’s going to take forever to fill in.”

Tommy groans. “We’re not gonna fill the entire fucking crater, don’t you see Technoblade?”

“See what, Tommy?”

“One, marketing, and two this is the perfect opportunity to terra-form,” Tubbo responds instead, shifting Techno’s gaze towards him. “We might even be able to add some fun underground things.”

The younger teen gasps. “We can rebuild the L’Manberg sewers.”

Tubbo hums in consideration. “I was thinking more along the lines of like a laser tag place, but that works too.”

“You and your fucking lasers man, who are you? Lazarbeam?” Tommy sneers.

Before Tubbo can retort, Techno raises his hand and both teens quiet out of instinct.

“Look,” the pig-man starts, “as much as I would love to witness yet another fight between you two, I have a place to get back to and I think I’ve said all I can.”

They watch as he steps into a pool of water, Tommy realizing that it’s stopped raining a while ago, and he aims his trident.

Before he launches, he makes eye contact with Tommy and simply says, “Good luck.”

Then he’s gone in a blurred twisted spiral, leaving behind droplets of water. Tommy peers at the grid and finds that Dream is gone too.

_Fucker’s probably lurking around somewhere though._

He doesn’t let his guard down yet. But he can’t deny he does feel lighter, more in control after the interaction with Techno. He knows this doesn’t fix things with his estranged sorta-older-brother but after that, there’s a glimmer of hope.

Maybe one day they can talk, and they’ll start to understand each other. Maybe he can even try to get through Phil.

Tommy looks at Tubbo and sees him genuinely smile. The older teen rambles about mapping out the crater and Tommy feels a sense of actual calm. He also can’t stop the giddy excitement that bubbles in him at the fact that he’s doing the project with his best friend.

A project that they’re coming up with together and working on together. 

There’s some scars still left, and while they haven’t completely forgiven each other for their harsh actions and words, this future garden of theirs feels like the right step forward.

L’Manberg will have to be left behind in order to take it though. Tommy deflates a little at that fact. He hopes Wilbur won’t be too disappointed, but he supposed it’s what he would’ve wanted. 

“Good riddance to your unfinished symphony,” he mutters under his breath. 

Tommy lets himself have a moment of grief for his brother, his first home, and then wakes himself up again. He tunes back into Tubbo.

“—Tommy, are you listening?” 

The younger teen turns his head to a mildly concerned Tubbo.

Tubbo gently taps on his arm, an old code of theirs created long before they had jumped onto this server. _“Are you okay?”_

Tommy coughs to get rid of any tears threatening to spill. “Yeah just thinking of what to call the park.”

Neither of them buy the poor attempt, but Tubbo takes it in stride and taps his own arms in thought. “Pogtopia Park? Like an homage?”

Tommy can’t stop the cold that spreads through him at the memories in the ravine. The suffocating darkness and echo chamber of insane laughter. A chilling wind was always present in there, as if ghosts were haunting every room. Watching them crumble and break down.

“No, no, I’d rather not, no thanks,” he responds gruffly, shaking off the twitching in his fingers. Tubbo doesn’t seem to notice or be terribly offended at the immediate shoot down of his idea and just continues tapping.

His friend starts humming a familiar tune and a lightbulb lights up in Tommy’s mind. The voices come back to state their approval and he gives the most roundabout thanks to them before he suppresses them again.

“Lake Mellohi,” he breathes out. Tubbo quirks at that and softly smiles.

“That’s a good name, Big Man,” Tubbo says and that’s that.

They both watch the sunset go down and they both take a breath of fresh air. It feels like a true new beginning, a new chapter. They’ll still have to get through a bunch of hurdles of course.

Off far down the prime path, two of their old comrades scheme for Tommy’s demise. A group deep down in the soil of the server walks into a red room. The man with the painted smile observes them from where he’s hidden. Another man nervously flips through his book as the future becomes more diluted. Someone pleads for answers, notes floating by, encased in obsidian.

For now though, there’s really only one concern that Tommy has as the stars start to peek through.

“Shit! Fuck! Tubbo we gotta get to my house, there’s no more lighting around here—“

“Tommy there’s a fucking creeper behind you!”

Their shrieks pierce across the night, followed by a small boom and pounding footsteps. Tommy drags Tubbo along with him, holding hands as they run to his dirt home. Delirious laughter erupts between them.

Lake Mellohi awaits them in the morning, as told by their signatures and note stamped on a wooden sign.

They’re not okay yet, but they’ll get there.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I started this off thinking it'll stay as a one-shot, but it's sorta fun not dreading how things will go on the dsmp, so who knows. Also, once again, plants dude. I love plants so much, shout out to Professor Pericles, my cactus. I couldn't have done it without them.
> 
> Remember to go check out the Community Garden AU creator, they're deyageka on tumblr and gekafaye on Instagram!


End file.
